1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to data networks, and more particularly to a networked navigation-enabled system that provides secure communication between network nodes.
2. Related Art
While the development of navigation technology is a rapidly growing industry, the value of being able to remotely obtain precise position information has long been recognized. Numerous navigation applications have recently been recognized and systems relating thereto developed, with the result being that navigation technology has found its way into cars, boats, planes, construction equipment, farm machinery and cellular phones.
One of the most well developed navigation system is the global positioning system (GPS). In fact, GPS technology has matured to the point that virtually everyone, including scientists, sportsmen, farmers, soldiers, pilots, surveyors, hikers, delivery drivers, sailors, dispatchers, lumberjacks and fire-fighters can benefit from it. Various applications in which GPS has been used include location, navigation, tracking, mapping and timing.
Recently, the idea of network-assisted GPS systems has been introduced. However, these systems have only scratched the surface of the applications that are possible by combining GPS technology with the full functionality of network communications. Thus, there is a need in the art for a fully-networked navigation-enabled system. In addition to the numerous possible applications in which a fully-networked navigation-enabled system may be used, there is a further need in the art for positioning receiver hardware for network-based transceiver applications that make use of navigation technology, such as GPS.